Apprentices just wanna have fun
by TheRedPoet
Summary: He'd only left her alone for an hour. Two tops.


"Molly. Are you still here?"

Silence. I frowned and scanned the table for a note. Nothing. Molly wouldn't leave when we had a lesson planned without a note. Not unless something truly terrible was happening. Like if they had another sale of those trashy vampire romance novels she thought I didn't know about. That or monsters. I wasn't sure what scared me most.

I glanced down at Mouse, who was usually good about noting that kind of thing, but he just kept on wagging his tail and licked my hand once.

I don't really speak Dog, but I took that to mean I shouldn't worry quite yet, so I dropped off the bag with the bottle of whisky and took a look around.

I checked my room and bathroom (knocking before attempting either, just in case). Molly had been good about not attempting any overt funny business since our Serious Talk a couple of years back but every so often she'd change or borrow the shower without letting me know about it.

Throw in some "unfortunate timing" and it was starting to accumulate to enough times that I'd begun to worry whenever Charity Carpenter was looking my way. I had a feeling, wizard or no, that she could read minds where such things were concerned.

No Molly in either room, which left only the lab. I opened up the trapdoor and headed down into my laboratory. I didn't cackle maniacally when I did so because I'm above such clichés… And because I'd scared the living daylights out of Molly the last time I'd done so at four o'clock in the morning.

Instead I traipsed down there quietly… And still manage to scare the girl half to death when I tripped over the last step and accidentally kicked into the table for Little Chicago on my way down. Molly yelped and almost toppled out of her chair.

"Oh. Hi, Harry!" She said breathlessly. "I was working on a spell and I didn't hear you… Come down."

Molly Carpenter was a knock-out even in the thick bright red hoodie and jeans she wore to ward off the subterranean chill of the lab. In the spirit of Halloween, which was only a week away now, she'd dyed the tips of her honey-blonde hair black.

"I thought you'd run off somewhere," I said, grabbing a chair and pulling it over to settle next to her. "What're you working on?"

She swallowed thickly, her voice coming out as a faint croak.

"The detection crystal." She cleared her throat before she continued, sounding a little annoyed. "You know, the one you told me to make an hour ago?"

I ignored the attitude, for now, and frowned at her.

"Are you feeling okay, Molly?" I put a hand to her forehead. "You sound like you might be coming down with something."

Her skin felt warm and clammy under my fingers. Yeah… Definitely coming down with something. T'was the season and all.

"I'm fine," she insisted quickly. Too quickly. She was doing that shifty-eyed thing she did whenever she was hiding something. "It's nothing."

The thing with Molly was that I couldn't really pressure her to talk. She'd dig her heels in purely because she didn't like being pushed. It didn't make my job any easier but I could respect that. Like master, like apprentice, I suppose.

"Alright," I said. "Does it work?"

I pointed towards a pale quartz crystal about half the length of my pinkie that lay on the cleared space of her work desk. In the wan light, it was difficult to see, but it looked like she'd carved some kind of symbols into it.

"Not yet," Molly said, shifting a little closer and blocking my view of her work. "Listen, Harry..."

She hesitated for a moment, eyes distant and swallowed.

"I was wondering about tomorrow. Is it still okay if I tag along for DnD?"

"Arkanos," I corrected her, almost automatically. "Or what you usually call, and I quote, 'A nerdy old-people game.'"

She flushed.

"I'm sorry about dissing your nerdy old people games," Molly said, trying for a smile. "Can I come?"

"Weren't you going to be hanging out with…" I racked my brain for the names. "Emily and… Sophie?"

Molly made a face.

"Change of plans."

That inspired a pang of sympathetic pain. She'd had a tough time with it ever since she fried the brains of two of her old friends. That, combined with all the time she had to spend with me doing lessons and catching up with schoolwork, meant she'd lost contact with most of the friends she'd had left.

"They canceled on you again?"

"Yeah."

"It'll get better." I gave the girl's shoulder a squeeze. "And of course you can come."

She nodded. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"

I frowned. My spidey-senses were tingling… And no, that wasn't a dirty metaphor. Molly looked pale. Beads of sweats were gathering on her forehead.

"Yeah, I can pick you up," I said. "Are you sure you feel okay?"

"Yes," she said, a touch impatiently now. "And I gotta get going, actually."

She moved for the crystal and my hand moved on pure reflex, intercepting her and placing my palm against the slender length of quartz. I had a split-second to register the way the girl's eyes widened in horror… And then a low hum filled the air as the crystal began to vibrate against my palm.

I jerked my hand back instinctively as Molly yelped. Seconds ticked by in absolute silence.

I reached out again, tentatively this time, and pressed a finger against the crystal. Again, it began to hum and vibrate slowly.

"Molly," I said, fighting very hard to keep my voice serious. "This isn't the detection crystal I asked you to make."

Molly didn't speak as I held up the humming piece of quartz in the palm of my hand.

"This," I continued, laughter lurking at the edge of my words, "is something else."

"I'm sorry," she gasped. "Just… Give it to me and I'll fix it."

She reached out and I closed my finger on the result of her work.

"Oh no," I told her. "This is actually really good work. Not what I told you to do, but still good."

Molly's face and throat were rapidly turning red and she refused to look at me, presumably hoping to be able to make a Way through the concrete floor to escape.

I hadn't taught her that trick yet, though, so she was out of luck. See that planning? That is why they pay me the big bucks. Or why they should.

"Oh come on, Molly," I said, laughing a little. "You're not the first wizard to try this and you won't be the last. It's not a big deal."

"But-"

I waved her off. "No. Let's be adults about this. It's perfectly normal. Just… Don't let your mom see it, okay? If she thinks I made it for you, she'll rip my head off."

Molly smiled shakily at that.

"Gotcha, boss." She held her hand out again. "Can I have it back now?"

Her fingers were trembling. Her voice, too.

"Just a sec."

Molly bit her lip.

"Harry-"

"You'll get it back. I'm just checking so it won't blow up."

"It isn't. Harry, come on."

She looked like she might be about to pass out, swaying where she sat.

"Alright, that's it," I said. "I'm taking you home before you faint."

"No!" She exclaimed. "It's - fine. I'm fine."

I leaned in and gave her my sternest look and her breath caught in her throat.

"Save me the bullshit and talk. What's up?"

Molly's eyes fluttered shut for a moment and when she spoke her voice was strained.

"That's not the only crystal. There's another one and… And you need to put that one down or-"

I looked at the crystal in my hands and then down at Molly's crossed legs as they clenched together. Oh. Oh my God.

I slammed the crystal down onto the wooden desk and backed off, staring at my apprentice as she slowly calmed down.

"Right…" I told her slowly. "I'll come pick you up tomorrow for the game at four o'clock. We will never speak of this again, understood?"

"Yes, sir," Molly said.

The demure bow of her head and the flush on her cheeks made me wish she'd phrased it differently.

"Good. Now I'm going to head upstairs and drink. A lot. You'll find your way out."

Molly nodded quickly and made to leave but I caught her by the shoulder.

"You forgot this," I said, holding out the crystal I'd wrapped in a handkerchief.

Molly looked at me and only hesitated for a moment before snagging the crystal from out of my hand and hurrying up the stairs.

I shook my head. Apprentices…

I really needed a drink. Now where did I put that whisky?


End file.
